Within the world of animation, most experimentation occurs within short format productions, whether they be high-budgeted commercials, low-budgeted independent shorts or something in between. The growing number of short film festivals around the world attest to the vitality of these works, but there are few other venues for exhibition of them or even written reviews. As a result, distribution tends to be difficult and irregular. On a regular basis, Animation World Magazine will highlight some of the most interesting with short, descriptive overviews.

If you have the QuickTime plug-in, you can view a clip from each film by simply clicking the image.

This Month:

Henry’s Garden (2002), 8 min., directed by Moon Seun, USA. Info: Kevin Geiger, Simplistic Pictures, 2340 Overland Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90064. Tel.: 310-234-1176. Email: kevin@simplisticpictures.com. Web: www.simplisticpictures.com.

The Polar Bears (2003), 16 min., directed by Pierre Coffin, France. Email: info@passion-pictures.com. Web: www.passion-pictures.com.

Terra (2003), 7 min., directed by Aristomenis Tsirbas, USA. Info: Dane Smith, MeniThings, 7408 Lexington St., West Hollywood, CA 90046. Tel.: 323-969-8039. Email: dane@menithings.com.

Eat Your Peas (2003), 2 min., directed by Paul Hargrave, USA. Email: phargrave@att.net. Web: www.255zerozero.com.

Love is a Bullet in the Heart (2002), 3 min., directed by Diego Alvarez, Columbia. Tel./Fax: (571) 410-3405. Email: lepixma@hotmail.com.

Henry’s Garden is destroyed by a tire attack. © 2002 Simplistic Pictures.

Henry’s Garden
Movies are not generally described as gentle, but, if they were, Henry’s Garden would be among them. Director Moon Seun and producer Kevin Geiger wanted to allow the movie some room to breathe; some time for the story to unfold and for its mood to settle in. Its unhurried motion and hopeful emotion are a rarity for audiences who are more accustomed to the frenetic, flailing action of what passes for stories these days.

Henry’s Garden begins with the titular character, a gentle giant, delighting among the soft, muted colors, sunshine and breeze of his garden. Henry smells a daisy with deep appreciation. An automobile tire then wanders into the garden, and Henry considers it with the same innocent, welcoming curiosity as he does his flower. The tire doesn’t seem as delicate and pretty — and, though a tire by any other name, it certainly doesn’t smell as sweet. Henry tosses it aside. Soon, more tires roll by, until a “stampede” of them plows through, knocking down fences and ruining his garden. The whole area is flattened and devastated.

As Henry realizes that his flower has died, an entire city storms around him. He dejectedly sulks through the lonely, stony cloister of high-rise buildings and alleyways. Henry picks up a passing tire with frustration, and through its central hole he sees a rainbow in the sky, a window of hope through the bleakness. As he walks toward the sunlight breaking through the clouds, he comes across a handful of daisies growing out of the pavement. Even here, beneath the sorrowful memory of once what was, amid the clumsy onslaught of overbearing city, life endures.

Henry smiles, plants a daisy on his bald head, and continues on. The movie concludes with a quotation: “Nature is unforgiving; she will not agree to withdraw her flowers, her music, her scents or her rays of light before the abominations of man.” — Victor Hugo.

In crafting a performance for Henry, a language of posture and movement that was empathetic, the animation was appropriately understated. According to its creators, the aesthetic aim of the movie was not realism or caricature, but rather a stylized naturalism. The look-and-feel of Henry’s Garden was inspired by black-and-white films such as Metropolis and Frankenstein, along with the illustrations of artists such as Lisbeth Zwerger.

Henry’s Garden was created using Alias Maya, Adobe Photoshop and Premiere, Fractal Design Painter and Right Hemisphere Deep Paint 3D. The short film has been making the rounds on the festival circuit, having already played at venues in Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Denmark, Italy, Germany, Korea, Australia and the United States. Included among its honors are the Best Animation Award at the Great Lakes Film Festival (2002), Beecher Digital Art Competition (2003) and San Diego Asian Film Festival (2003); as well as the Spirit of Moondance Award at the Moondance Film Festival (2003).

An animated feature treatment of Henry’s Garden, called A Green Winter, is in the works.